The present invention relates to a basketball backboard and, more particularly, to a basketball backboard formed of a structural foam plastic material and having a graphics sheet molded into the face of the backboard.
Basketball backboards are currently made of a variety of materials and are commonly produced using a moldable plastic material. In one known backboard structure the backboard is formed of styrene which is injected into a straight injection mold to form the styrene into the final desired shape for the backboard. Further, such styrene backboards are typically formed as small backboards, i.e. less than 48 inches.
It is also known to provide the above-described styrene backboard with a front face having a graphics display to improve the appearance of the backboard. Typically, the graphics display is printed on a styrene sheet which is laid by hand into the mold for forming the backboard and alignment of the sheet is accomplished by aligning holes in the sheet on pins in the mold provided for producing the mounting holes in the backboard. Upon injecting styrene into the mold, the back portion of the graphics sheet is melted to cause it to be integrally joined to the face of the backboard.
Styrene is relatively easy to print on and therefore is conducive to the production of backboards which are provided with sheets having graphics printed thereon. However, there is a need for a molded backboard formed of a plastic material having greater structural strength than prior molded backboards and which is conducive to production of larger backboards, such as 48 inch backboards. In addition, it is desirable to provide such a backboard wherein the material forming the backboard is conducive to receiving a printed sheet of graphics material formed of the same material as that of the backboard.